Question: Find the sum of the real roots of $x^4 - 4x - 1 = 0.$
Explanation: We look for a factorization of $x^4 - 4x - 1$ of the form $(x^2 + ax + b)(x^2 + cx + d).$  Thus,
\[x^4 + (a + c) x^3 + (ac + b + d) x^2 + (ad + bc) x + bd = x^4 - 4x - 1.\]Matching coefficients, we get
\begin{align*}
a + c &= 0, \\
ac + b + d &= 0, \\
ad + bc &= -4, \\
bd &= -1.
\end{align*}From the first equation, $c = -a.$  Substituting, we get
\begin{align*}
-a^2 + b+ d &= 0, \\
ad - ab &= -4, \\
bd &= -1.
\end{align*}Then $b + d = a^2$ and $b - d = \frac{4}{a},$ so $b = \frac{a^3 + 4}{2a}$ and $d = \frac{a^3 - 4}{2a}.$  Hence,
\[\frac{(a^3 + 4)(a^3 - 4)}{4a^2} = -1.\]This simplifies to $a^6 + 4a^2 - 16 = 0.$  This factors as
\[(a^2 - 2)(a^4 + 2a^2 + 8) = 0,\]so we can take $a = \sqrt{2}.$  Then $b = 1 + \sqrt{2},$ $c = -\sqrt{2},$ and $d = 1 - \sqrt{2},$ so
\[x^4 - 4x - 1 = (x^2 + x \sqrt{2} + 1 + \sqrt{2})(x^2 - x \sqrt{2} + 1 - \sqrt{2}).\]Checking the discriminants, we find that only the second quadratic factor has real roots, so the sum of the real roots is $\boxed{\sqrt{2}}.$